Editors’ Note: The sources interviewed for this article requested to be identified by their first names or initials only to protect their privacy.
For many teenagers, trying the latest viral food trend is a standard ritual of daily life. Spurred by TikTok, Instagram, and word-of-mouth, snacks like mala konjac and freeze-dried gummies have quickly become staples in backpacks and school cafeterias.
However, recent investigations by the Korean Consumer Agency (KCA) suggest that some of these popular snacks may pose health and safety risks ranging from excessive sodium intake to choking hazards and dental injuries. According to the report, the KCA tested 20 types of imported konjac snacks and candies sold near elementary schools, evaluating them for quality and safety. Among the ten mala-flavored snacks examined, one product tested positive for bacterial growth, prompting the agency to recommend an immediate sales halt and consumer refunds. Separately, several different products of jellies and candies were found to be far harder than what children between six and eleven can safely chew, raising concerns about potential damage to teeth and jaw joints. Beyond the safety findings, the KCA reported that some products' actual nutritional content deviated significantly from what was listed on their labels—in certain cases by as much as 250 percent—raising separate concerns about labeling accuracy.
The target audience for these snacks spans from elementary to high school students, making awareness of the trend widespread across classrooms. Rebecca Lee, a 13-year-old student at an international school in South Korea, said she first learned about the mala snack through social media. Annabelle, a 14-year-old student, was introduced to it by friends who "enjoy eating."
According to the KCA, certain imported mala snacks fail South Korea’s safety standards regarding microorganisms, testing positive for harmful bacterial growth. Alongside the bacterial contamination that has been detected in sealed packages, konjacs contain high amounts of glucomannan, which is a thick dietary fiber that the human stomach can’t easily break down, triggering symptoms such as bloating or cramps.
Yet, despite public announcements warning of contamination, these products remain widely accessible online—including on major e-commerce platforms like Coupang—and in a rapidly growing network of unmanned convenience stores. More surprisingly, several students reported that they will probably continue consuming the products anyways, even after knowing about the news of the unfulfillment of microbiotic standards.
"I’ve seen on social media that it contains a lot of harmful bacteria, so I’m worried it could affect my health," Lee admitted. She doesn’t, though, have any near-future plans of stopping consuming the said snack. Others were less concerned. "I will still eat it anyway," said Diane Park, a 13-year-old student at an international school in South Korea. “I mean, it tastes good, so why not?” she added.
The availability of the harmful products seems varied, depending on the type of stores. While major retail chains like GS25 seem to more rigorously enforce safety regulations by requiring ingredient tracking, proper manufacturing verification, and clear expiration labeling, independently operated unmanned stores operate with far less oversight. “I literally saw mala konjac in every 무인편의점 (unmanned store), but not in 편의점 (normal convenience stores),” said Amy Kim, a 14-year-old student at a public school in South Korea.
Without on-site staff to monitor inventory, these automated shops struggle with regulatory compliance, and the viral snacks on their shelves often arrive with little vetting to begin with—imported in small batches that can slip past the rigorous safety screening larger, established products undergo.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, all food products must undergo basic safety regulations, including proper manufacturing, ingredient tracking, and accurate expiration labeling before they can be sold. Unlike CU and GS25, which run standardized backend systems like AI-based ordering, centralized inventory, cold-chain monitoring, many unmanned stores are stocked by individual owners buying directly from overseas—sometimes as personal "해외직구" (overseas direct-purchase) orders rather than through registered import channels. A recent Seoul Metropolitan Government crackdown on unmanned stores near school districts found exactly this: several outlets were selling undeclared imported snacks, including one repackaged without proper Korean labeling, products that had never gone through the safety screening required of formally imported goods.
Preservation after the import, even if the unmanned stores receive products that are healthy, is also in question. While the same Food Sanitation Act legally applies to unmanned stores as it does to staffed convenience chains, enforcement is far harder in practice. Without employees on-site to pull expired products, monitor refrigeration temperatures, or catch damaged packaging in real time, unmanned stores are more prone to lapses that regulators themselves have described as a "sanitation blind spot." The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has acknowledged this gap, issuing dedicated hygiene guidelines for unmanned retailers and increasing the frequency of spot inspections—yet violations, mostly involving expired products left on shelves, continue to surface in nationwide sweeps.
Cara Ahn, a 13-year-old student attending an international school in Seoul, noted that because young people frequently shop at these unmanned storefronts, unsafe products can spread rapidly throughout the student body.
For a few students who have already suffered from eating the contaminated items, the experience left a bad taste in their mouths, both literally and figuratively. Several students described the snacks as tasting "artificial" and recalled getting sick shortly after eating them. “I suffered from severe stomach ache when I tried mala konjac,” said Ahn. As awareness slowly catches up with the trend, some young consumers are calling for stricter accountability from manufacturers and importers.
One anonymous student kept it simple: "Product could be improved by making sure it’s made in a sanitary environment, that it’s safe for all, and that it isn’t preserved using harmful chemicals." Until manufacturers, importers, and regulators pay closer attention to the snacks available to students across stores, the burden of catching what slips through will keep falling on thirteen-year-olds who just wanted a snack that tasted good.